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Colovian Order
The Order of Brothers of the Colovian Consulate in Alik'r, commonly known as the Colovian Order, is a religious military order originally founded to protect pilgrims worshipping the Nine Divines in Hammerfell. Its members, the Colovian Knights, are devout followers of the Cyrodiilic pantheon, and are thus almost exclusively Imperials. Overview The Colovian Order was formed with a singular purpose in mind: to protect and grant hospital to those worshipping the Nine Divines in Hammerfell, where the Yokudan pantheon is still enforced. Under the leadership of their first Grand Master Corrian Septim, an Imperial nobleman who claimed to be a descendant of Tiber Septim himself, the Order established their headquarters in the eastern fringes of the Alik'r Desert, constructing an immense fortress, Stendarr's Hold, in the sands to harbour their operations. The Order, though few in numbers upon their founding, began to rapidly grow in size and influence as more knights took up the cause and flocked to the Hold. Mere decades after their founding, however, the Order's purpose shifted away from solely protecting pilgrims when they took up arms against a myriad of Daedra worshippers all over northeastern Tamriel, ushering in the First Colovian Crusade and reforming the Order into a crusading military order. For a number of years after the First Colovian Crusade, the Order acquired control of a region of land surrounding Stendarr's Hold, which was at the time known as the Order State. Though it was later reclaimed by Hammerfell, the Order still seeks to reestablish rule over the State, and has attempted, to no avail, to take it by force on several occasions, having waged three different wars against Hammerfell to reach that goal. Ideology The Knights of the Colovian Order are all deeply religious, many of them having a background as a priest or a paladin of some form. They believe in protecting the followers of the Nine Divines from all those who seek to harm them for worshipping the Aedra, especially from the Redguards of Hammerfell, where the Order is situated. Daedra worship, in their eyes, is the only thing worse than the Yokudan paganism, and they would have actively waged war with the Dunmer of Morrowind had it not been for the great distance in between them. The Order's patron deity is Stendarr, the god of righteous might and mercy. The Knights live by his tenets: "Protect the weak, heal the sick, and give to the needy". The Order was founded to do exactly what the tenets describe, though they have grown to also seek out Daedra worshippers and exterminate them in their occasional crusades. Organisation The Colovian Order has a complex ranking structure, divided into three main sections, as follows: At the head of the Order sits the Grand Master, who controls the entirety of the organisation. In the times of the Order State, he would also function as ruler of the realm. He is advised by the heads of each of the three branches of the Order: the Grand Commissar, the Knight-General, and the High Cleric. The Commissary The Castellan personally oversees the Commissary, which is responsible for tending to the daily activities in and around Stendarr's Hold. This branch of the Order encompasses all the castle staff, including servants, cooks, janitors, quartermasters, etcetera. Sentries are rotationally drafted from the ranks of the Knights-At-Arms. During the times of the Order State, the Commissary also held the responsibility of governing the realm. The Military The largest and most vital branch of the Order is the military, controlled by the Knight-General. It contains the full fighting force of the Order; each Knight is a fearsome warrior of renowned prowess. The military contains a rank structure of its own: the Knights-At-Arms form the regular soldiers for the Order. Up to twenty of them are led by a single Knight-Sergeant, who in turn answers to a Knight-Captain. A Knight-Captain already has enough men under his command to form a significant fighting force, but even he is not the highest leader in the military. The Knight-Captains must all answer to the Knight-General. The Clergy A religious order cannot subsist without a branch in place to represent the Faith: the Clergy takes this role upon itself. The High Cleric is a respected figure in the church of the Nine Divines, and has responsibility over two distinct groups: the priests and the chaplains. Priests are exactly what they appear to be; they tend to the spiritual wellbeing of the Order, organise masses, and pray for the Knights so that they may never relent in their mission. The Chaplains are essentially warrior monks, paladins of their faith. They accompany the Knights-At-Arms into battle to fight alongside them and give them spiritual guidance on the battlefield. Each detachment of Knights-At-Arms is accompanied by at least one Chaplain; said Chaplain is therefore under the direct command of his Knight-Sergeant. Squires A knightly order cannot be sustained without a stream of new knights; therefore, the Order maintains a number of squires that train to join the ranks of the Knights. Squires are placed under the watchful eye of a Knight-Sergeant, who is responsible for the young squire's education and training. Individual Knights-At-Arms often partake in the squire's tutelage as well. Once they are of age and they have completed their training, they are then accepted into one of the three branches, where they receive additional teaching for their specific duties. The Order State The Sovereign State of the Colovian Order, usually referred to as simply the Order State, was a region of land around Stendarr's Hold. In the wake of the Second Colovian Crusade, the Order conquered a number of villages and forts from Hammerfell and claimed them as their own holdings. The new state received an influx of Imperial peasantry, and a significant portion of the existing population was converted to worship of the Nine Divines. By all accounts, the Order State could be considered the only crusader state in the history of Tamriel - for the few decades it existed. Roughly forty years after the Order State was founded, the Order fell under the leadership of a rather apathetic Grand Master, Desis Piger, who slacked on guarding the holdings of the State against the protests of his Grand Commissar. This was a mistake that would cost him dearly, as in all those years, the kingdom of Hammerfell never stopped waiting for an opportunity to take their lost lands back, and the time was ripe to do exactly that. In a rather short war of reclamation, the Colovian Order was driven back to Stendarr's Hold and lost a significant amount of its numbers, though the Redguards could not manage to defeat them at their stronghold. The growth and influence the Order had gained in the last four decades had effectively been undone in less than a month, however the Imperials and converted Redguards still remained where they were, and now essentially form an island of Nine Divines worshippers in a sea of followers of the Yokudan pantheon. Ever since the loss of the Order State, the Order's Grand Masters have sought to reclaim the lands they lost. Another two crusades were attempted, but both were unsuccessful in their goal. Notable members of the Order Corrian Septim The founder of the Order and its first Grand Master, Corrian Septim was an Imperial born in Anvil, a city in the Colovian part of Cyrodiil. He believed himself to be a descendant of the Septim dynasty, though whether or not that was true is debatable. Either way, he gained a number of followers, who shared his belief that the worshippers of the Nine Divines in lands where their worship was outlawed or not promoted needed a sanctuary. Septim led them into Hammerfell, where they established their foothold on the fringes of the Alik'r Desert. By the time that Stendarr's Hold had been finished, however, Corrian Septim had already passed away on the age of 68, four months before the fortress was completed. Aria Pectis Aria Pectis was the Grand Mistress of the Order some twenty years after the completion of Stendarr's Hold. During her rule, Daedric activity had started going rampant in Hammerfell and High Rock, so she reformed the Colovian Order into a militant crusading order and led them into the First Colovian Crusade. She is considered to be one of the most influential figures in the history of the Order, as she conquered the Order State during the crusade and reformed the Order into the organisation as it is now known. Desis Piger Desis Piger, frequently called Piger the Pathetic by the Colovian Knights, was Grand Master of the Order thirty-nine years after the founding of the Order State. His rule as Grand Master was the single most catastrophic period the Colovian Order had to cope with throughout its existence. Content to sit on the Order's accomplishments, he was inclined to believe that the Order State was a strong, solid nation in its own right, and did not see reason to waste manpower on keeping the borders secure and the fortresses maintained, despite all the protests his Grand Commissar made against this apathetic attitude. Indeed, the Commissar's protests proved to be with reason; hardly two years into Piger's rule, the military leaders of Hammerfell realised that the Order State was barely defended, and invaded in force. Though Grand Master Piger did attempt to throw up a defence, he proved to be quite a miserable strategist, and within a month's time the Order State had fallen out of the hands of the Colovian Order. The Order itself would have been eradicated in its entirety if the Grand Commissar had not removed Grand Master Piger from his position and personally led the defence of Stendarr's Hold. Mentioning the Grand Master's name to a Colovian Knight more often than not results in an angry tirade or a series of curses. Mallius Mulmen During the Second Colovian Crusade, Knight-General Mallius Mulmen led the charge against a quickly-growing Daedric cult, the Children of Dagon, that had been spreading itself throughout eastern High Rock. Even with the Order's relatively small numbers at the time, the crusaders were able to hunt down and exterminate the entire cult down to the last man, thanks to Knight-General Mulmen's brilliant leadership. The most impressive feat of tactical prowess he displayed during the crusade was in the final battle: the Colovian Knights had located the last stronghold of the Children and invaded it in force, only to find that it was abandoned. However, when they were inside, it turned out to be a trick; they had been trapped inside, and the Children ambushed them from all angles and hallways. With their numbers whittled down, Mulmen nonetheless managed to retreat into the stronghold's main chamber, where he repelled and even defeated the Children, despite the fact that the cult had far greater numbers. The Knight-General has since gone into the Order's archives as an example of virtue for all Colovian Knights. Attire and armament The Knights of the Colovian Order are easily recognisable by their hallmark outfit, the white tunic with a black cross emblazoned over it. This tunic is typically worn over a chain mail or halfplate armour of some kind. Their shields bear the more detailed coat of arms of the Order, with the gold shield and the black dragon painted on. Chaplains wear a different arrangement of colours on their tunics; they are inverted when compared to the other Knights, wearing a black tunic with a white cross. Generally speaking, the Knights have uniform equipment; most wield a shield and an arming sword, and sentries on Stendarr's Hold are outfitted with pikes or longbows. More uncommonly, Chaplains may wield maces or longswords without shields so they have a hand free for their blessings and Restoration magic. Gallery ColKnight.png|A Colovian Knight-At-Arms. ColCap.png|A Knight-Captain. Note the gold cross on the helmet and the white cloak. ColChap.png|A Chaplain, with the inverse colour scheme. Trivia * The Colovian Order is a direct adaptation of the real-life Teutonic Order, a German Catholic crusading order founded in Acre and later moved to the Baltics, where it drove away the barbarians that lived there and paved the way for what would later become the kingdom of Prussia. The attire worn by the Chaplains, on the other hand, is taken from the Knights Hospitaller, another crusading order. * Other inspirations for the Order include the kingdom of Jerusalem, by way of having a small crusader state in the middle of an arid region filled with people with different beliefs, as well as the Adeptus Astartes, or Space Marines, from Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 franchise, in the form of the manner that they employ black-clad Chaplains in battle. Category:Knight Orders Category:Factions